


Safe and Warm Under the Stars

by promking



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), SO GAY, both of these boys love each other, subtle pining lance, this is just a short thing cause i needed to create my own klance content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-30 22:17:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8551297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/promking/pseuds/promking
Summary: Keith and Lance spend some time on the bridge bonding and trying to keep it together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I spend a lot of time listening to I Want You by Summer Camp.

The warmth from Lance’s palms radiated through Keith’s own icy fingertips as he traced mindless patterns from the lines on Lance’s hands; the boy’s pale, pink palm a contrast to his light blue jeans upon which their hands lingered. Silence with intermittent bursts of conversation kept Keith from being lulled to sleep; that and the fact they were both propped up against the central structure of the bridge where hours before the team had gathered to go over their next plan of attack. Keith didn’t want to think of that right now. No fighting, no training, no possible fatal mistakes made during battle. Right now, it was Lance, Keith, and the trillions of stars stretched out before them. Lance, Keith, and the possibilities of them stretched out before Keith. The possibilities of them that Keith wanted so badly to believe in.

Lance mumbled about missing the feel of sand between his toes and the warm waters of the beach lapping at his ankles. His head was against Keith’s shoulder, every vibration of his voice a muffled delivery of comfort into his very bones, and their thighs were pushed together. Lance painted a beautiful picture of home, one that Keith had never been to but could only imagine was as reassuring as his friend made it out to be, and it was times like this that Keith felt the impossibility of their situation weigh down on them. Out of the trillions of organisms in the universe, it just had to be them who found the lions and formed Voltron. It just had to be them stuck floating in space, billions of miles from home with no sign of the little blue planet anywhere in sight. It just had to be Keith, arm around Lance after watching his comrade almost die, who realized he was in love with someone that flitted from person to person like he couldn’t decide whether it was best to leave or stay.

They had talked about Earth and what they wanted to do when they got back. They talked about having to sneak into the kitchen late at night for midnight snacks and hating curfews. They talked about the stars and how Lance wanted to fuck one, and if Keith accidentally snorted at that then Lance didn’t comment on it. Even after Lance described in graphic detail what exactly the Altean goo looked like after vomiting it up, Keith couldn’t help but egg him on for more. More of his words, more of his time, more of his attention. He demanded Lance’s attention above anything else.

Keith’s heart fluttered happily at their current situation. While the rest of the team had drifted to the couches, Lance had motioned for Keith to sneak away with him to the bridge. Keith had noted the exact date and time that this became a daily habit for them. A time to bond and just vent to test the trust they could put in each other. Keith hadn’t ever said it aloud, but he would trust Lance with more than just pent-up frustrations. He trusted Lance with his life, with his heart. He trusted Lance to smile at him and tell him they would make it home. He trusted Lance. Every time Lance let out a soft laugh, light and airy unlike the usual animated, lively barks, Keith felt himself floating away from the castle. Away from Voltron and the Galrans. Away from the isolation and fear he felt having to defend the universe as a kid. He wanted to wrap himself up in Lance’s laughter, in Lance’s smiles, in Lance’s warm arms that had occasionally ended up around his shoulders that day. Keith wanted to press his hands to Lance’s cheeks and see the love he felt reflected in the other boy’s eyes.

Keith’s eyes shifted over to watch Lance, a slight pain from the strain of looking over so far not enough to deter him from watching the way Lance shifted to lay almost completely against his side. Lance’s hand slipped out from under Keith’s to point at one of the millions of stars they could see, Keith still couldn’t tell which one he was pointing at, as he talked about how the stars were dead and wondering if they were actually under the same sky as his family was. Lance had lamented to Keith days before that not being able to see the moon was what really crushed him. On Earth, he could pretend that he was home when he looked at the moon, and at the Garrison, he could make out the faint blue of Earth and think of his family, but now he couldn’t even dream of being home. The castle never quite felt like home to him, despite correcting that the team was most certainly his family now. Keith didn’t mention to Lance that the castle was the most comfortable home he knew. That Team Voltron was the most stable thing he knew. Silently, Keith hoped Lance would rest his hand back against Keith’s. He also hoped that Lance would look over and tell him that he wanted to kiss him. He also hoped that when they got back to Earth, Team Voltron wouldn’t go their separate ways.

Keith saw none of those things happening right now. He could swallow that disappointment if he had to.

Ah, Lance was looking at him now, head tilted to look his way and cheek smooshed up.

“What if we don’t defeat Zarkon until we’re thirty? I’ve never even been on a date. I don’t know if I can wait that long to have a lover…” Keith let out an annoyed groan, eyes rolling up and over to his other side.

“I think we have a lot of bigger problems to worry about if we don’t defeat Zarkon until we’re thirty. Pretty sure being a defender of the universe isn't something you can put on a resume.” Lance chuckled and half-turned, pushing his forehead against Keith’s lean arm. Keith could tell he was fighting back something: tears, maybe. He had to fight everything in him to not look over and make sure Lance wasn’t crying. Lance hated to be seen crying, but it was hard not to try to stop him. They had talked about the fact Lance could barely hold in his emotions, and Lance was proud to state that he would cry if he felt he needed to. Keith didn’t really understand how someone could just burst at the seams and think it was okay.

Hesitantly, Lance’s hand came up to clutch onto Keith’s shirt and Keith swallowed down the hope he felt bursting up from his chest. Although he was well aware that Lance did not need protecting, Keith felt the need to pull the other boy as close as possible and fold around him. Especially when Lance looked so lost for words and drowned in his emotions; Keith knew he would suffocate under the pressure of being the blue paladin if he didn’t have people to distract him. If his mouth wasn’t filled with words rushing out like an overflowing river, then it was filled with grief and stuttered breaths. Keith needed to protect like he need to breathe. If he didn’t fight for what he knew was right, then he was lost wondering what he should do. They simply sat there, breathing too loudly for the quiet room they were in, before Lance let out a soft cough and pulled away from Keith’s side.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask. It’s okay if you don’t want to. I mean, I’m only asking cause I thought we got pretty close recently, and I thought about it even before now, but I didn’t think you’d feel comfortable enough to do it, but now I think maybe you are? If you aren’t that’s okay too. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about… You know, being in space and saving each other and stuff. I thought it was pretty… dreamy.” Keith watched Lance curl up into himself, shove his hands against his thighs and try to put a reasonable, ‘acquaintanceship’ distance between them.

Keith waited for more but Lance didn’t continue. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Keith turned and crossed his legs together, hands resting in his lap. He tried to meet Lance’s eyes but Lance refused to look up at him, his whole posture screamed “cradle me now”.

“Whatever it is, I’ll do it. You can trust me, Lance. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for… the team.” Keith coughed to cover up having to catch himself. Licking his dry lips, the red paladin leaned closer to reassure Lance. “I mean it. What do you need?”

Lance’s blue eyes flitted up to Keith’s face before his hand tentatively reached out to rest on the other’s knee. “Kiss me, Keith.”

Keith’s breath was caught in his throat, and he wanted to process and remember this exact moment, but he was already leaning forward and on his knees, face so close to Lance’s he almost couldn’t see the other close his eyes. And then they were kissing, and Keith was pulling Lance closer, and Lance’s hands were in his hair. He may not have known the exact time of this moment, but he could memorize the feeling of the kiss. Their lips together, Keith’s uncomfortably chapped and scarred from taking punches but Lance’s soft and pliant, were as opposite as their personalities and it meant everything to Keith. His worries of whether it was bad or too rough or too fast were soon dashed away, as Lance let out a soft noise of approval and opened his mouth to boost Keith further. It was everything he had dreamed of. Lance was everything he had dreamed of; soft and warm against him but bony and like he needed Keith to protect him, fueling the fire in his heart and the quiver in his gut. Before he knew it, Lance was on his back and Keith was hovering over him, peppering his face with soft kisses and breathing out nonsense against his flushed skin. Keith’s skin felt hot and the metal below them was unbelievably cold, but he kept pushing down on Lance, trying to get as close as possible, only held up by one arm straining to hold his weight. Lance repeated Keith’s name breathlessly, hands slipping from Keith’s hair to his cheeks to pull their foreheads together.

“That wasn’t what I meant to ask…” Lance smiled sheepishly, thumbs stroking over Keith’s cheekbones softly as if he were trying to feel Keith’s freckles and acne scars and everything that was him. “Would you… Well, I mean, you just kissed me so I think you might want to… date me?” Lance looked hopeful, his eyebrows quirking up and his lips spread into an enthusiastic, encouraging smile. Keith couldn’t resist pecking his lips; lips he had only imagined before like they weren’t in front of him daily, taunting him to kiss them. It took several more minutes for Keith to give Lance an answer. Every time they stopped, Keith leaned down for more; kissing Lance’s cheeks, jaw, nose, and eyes. Whatever he could reach before Lance was pulling away.

“I guess I don’t need an answer.” The blue paladin hummed, hands on Keith’s shoulders to keep him propped up and away from smothering Lance. Both were content to just stare at each other, finally being able to unabashedly stare at each other without fear of the other noticing, noting blemishes and how their lashes looked and the way the natural curve of their lips looked so appealing to each other. Lance mumbled something about how they should leave, about how it was getting late, but Keith didn’t move away from him.

“Only if you’re coming to bed with me.” Keith stated, to which Lance began sputtering about ‘not being that kind of boy’. “You know what I meant, Lance!”

Like they came in, both boys sneaked out of the bridge; checking around corners and down hallways, giggling quietly amongst themselves as they raced each other to Keith’s quarters where they fell into his bed. Wrapped in a euphoria that lasted long after they drifted off to sleep, pressed side by side.


End file.
